Liam cramp



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

Patented Sept. 6, 1892 WITNESSES:

R 0 T N m N I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

w. TAIT. DEVICE FOR PLOODING SHIPS MAGAZINES. No. 482,282.

Patented Sept. 6, 1892.

I INVEZZLI'OR:

WITNESSES;

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3..

W. TAIT. DEVIGE FOR PLOODING SHIPS MAGAZINES. No. 482,282.- PatentedSept. 6, 1892.

WITNESSES: g a INVENTOR:

0 Wm lfirhip&m 5a. 971W! UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM TAIT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE IVIL- LIAMCRAMP (I: SONS SHIP AND ENGINE BUILDING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

DEVICE FOR FLOODING SHIPS MAGAZINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,282, datedSeptember 6, 1892.

Application filed April 13,1892. Serial ITO-428.967- (No model.)

T to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM TAIT, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDevices for Flooding Powder Magazines or other Compartments of Ships, ofwhich the following is a specification:

0 In ships provided with magazines for explosives, and particularly inwarships, it is usual to provide means for, at will, flooding themagazine by admitting to it sea water through a sea valve in the ship,or water contained in a tank or other receptacle within the ship. Indevices of this character the water inlet or flood-pipe to the magazineis provided with a flood cook or valve, preferably within the magazine,which is so arranged as to be operated from a distant point, as, forinstance,

any deck of the ship, and in warships preferably from the berth orgun-deck, without the necessity of personal approach or directmanipulation. In devices in which this valve or cock is, as stated,controlled from a deck or other distant point,the magazine being usuallylocated near the bilge,it is desirable to know with certainty when saidcock has been opened, and it is the object of my in- 0 vention toprovide means for the control of a magazine flood-cock from a distantpoint, which shall be of such character as to unerringly indicate whensaid cock has been opened, and when, in consequence, the maga- 3 5 zinehas been completely flooded.

To these ends my invention comprehends the devices represented in theaccompanying drawings, and hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings I have represented devices conveniently embodying mylnventlon, and applied in a simple and inexpensive manner.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic, transverse, sectional elevation, through thehull of a ship to which my improvements are shown as applied. Fig. 2 isa partly sectional, and partly elevational, detail, through a deck plateembodying my improvements, representing the flood cock, its key andvalve-stem, 1n the position which they respectively occupy when saidflood-cock has been opened for the admission of water to flood themagazine. Fig. 3 is a central, vertical, sectional elevation, throughsaid deck plate, in a plane right angular to that of the section throughsaid plate 5 5 represented in Fig. 2, but the deck plug being shown inplace, the key removed, and the valve-stem in the position which itoccupies when the flood-cock is closed. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of theparts represented in Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, A represents the hull of a ship, and a a a decks ofsaid ship, to the uppermost of which a is applied the deck plate 6 orcasing B.

C is a magazine or other compartment to be flooded, shown as locatednear the bottom of the ship.

D is a water inlet or flood-pipe represented as leading inwardly throughthe side of the ship below the water line to within the magazine, and asequipped with a sea valve d normally open. This flood-pipe is equippedwith a valve or flood cock (I of any preferred con- 7 struction,normally closed, and represented as located within the magazine. Thevalve represented is conveniently a two-way puppet valve, the stem d ofwhich is represented as conveniently extending upwardly within andthroughout the length of an airtight inclosing air pipe E, which opensat its lower extremity within the magazine C, and at its upper extremitywithin the deck plate 13. In the arrangement referred to, this pipe islarger in internal diameter than the diameter of the Valve-stem, inorder to provide an annular air, space between said stem and its owninner walls, and it is also preferably concentric with said stem. It isobvious that a quarter turn or rotation of the valve stem in one or theother direction will open or close the hood cock.

B is, as stated, a casing or deck plate, being preferably an open-toppedcylindric chamber 5 or inclosing case, conveniently provided with aperipheral flange b by the aid of which it may be secured with respectto the deck or other fixture. Its upper opening is convenientlyinternally threaded and adapted to be closed bya circularcorrespondingly-threaded deck plug F, preferably containing a centralkey socket f by the aid of which it may be screwed into or out of placewith respect to the plate. The plug is a non-essential of the device,and the upper diaphragm hereinafter referred to may be so disposed as toserve as a plug or cover. The deck plate itself is conveniently providedat or near its lower portion with, or formed into an internal diaphragm,which I term the lower or tight dia phragm I), through which passes theupper extremity of the valve-stem of the flood cock as through abearing, the same being free to turn, and preferably tightly fitted.

b is a second partition or diaphragm at or near the upper portion of thedeck plate, and, if desired, so located as to be its cover, which I termthe upper diaphragm, and which is conveniently formed as a web or plateprovided with an opening which I term the key opening b, and which isrepresented as being longer than wide. The upper extremity of thevalvestem 01' of the flood cock is below this upper diaphragm and isterminated by a key head LP, or kindred key boss, which also in theconstruction shown is longer than'wide. When a key is applied to thiskey head, the valvestem can be rotated and the flood cock opened orclosed.

G is a flood-cock key of any preferred character, in the constructionshown terminating in a socket g which is longer than wide. The socket isexternally conformed to fit the key opening I) in the upper diaphragm,in order that when its longer axis is caused to coincide with the longeraxis of said opening the key can be introduced through it,and isinternally conformed to fit the keyhead of the stem when similarly itslonger axis is caused to coincide with the longer axis of said head.When the deck plug, when employed, has been removed, the key, asis-obvious, can be introduced through the opening in the upper diaphragmof the deck plate and applied to the head of the valve-stem, so that bythe rotation of the key the stem can be rotated and the flood-cockopened or closed.

In the normalset or relationship of the parts as depicted and described,when the flood-cock is closed, the majoraxis of the key head registersor is in parallelism with the major axis of the key-opening in the upperdiaphragm, and the socket of the key can, therefore, be directlyintroduced through said opening and without any rotation of the key beapplied to the head of the stem. Such application having been made, aquarter turn of the key will impart to the. stem a quarter rotation andopen the floodcock. In this last position, which is that represented inFigs. 2 and 3, the major axis of the key socket will be at right anglesto the major axis of the key opening in the upper diaphragm, and,obviously, it will be impossible to withdraw the key without giving afurther quarter turn to it which turn would result in the closing of thecock. It will, therefore,be apparent that so long as the key is in suchposition as renders its retraction from the deck plate through the keyopening impossible, the flood cock will be open, and the fact of theimpossibility of the retraction of the key will indicate the fact thatsaid cock is open.

I prefer to make the key-opening rectangular, and the key-socket andkey-head quadrangular, as represented; obviously, however, other formsof opening socket and head, such,for instance as oval lozenge ordiamondshaped, which would permit of the application of the key-socketthrough the key-opening when the key head was in a given position, andprevent its retraction when such position has been altered by the rotarymovement of said head, wouldv fall within the scope of the invention,and I do not therefore restrict myself to the special forms representedand described, it being, as far'as this feature of my invention goes,only necessary that the opening in the diaphragm, the socket, and thekey-head, should be of such form and such relative correspondence ofform, as to permit of the introduction of the key when .the flood cockis in its closed position, and

prevent the retraction of the key so long as the cock is open. Obviouslythe socket may be formed on the valve stem and the key head or boss onthe key because the socket and key head are simply devices to insure theengagement of the valve-stem with the key for the purpose of the turningof the stem by the key.

Any usual form of stop to limit the rotation of the key-stem to occasionthe full opening and the full closure of the cock, may obviously beapplied. Assuming the floodcock to have been opened, it is obvious thatair within the magazine without means of escape, would prevent theinflow of the water..

In order, therefore, to permit of the venting of the air, and at thesame time to indicate when the magazine has been completely flooded, Ihave provided an air pipe E, al-' ready referred to as making anair-tight con: nection between the upper part of the maga-. zinc and thelower part of the deck plate, and as conveniently surrounding the stemof the flood-cock; and have also provided one or more whistles H, orkindred airoperated alarms, which are represented in the form of tubesto which the letter H is applied, and which preferably pass through thelower diaphragm b, and conveniently up throughthe upperdiaphragm wherethey are terminated in whistling mouths h of any preferred character.

It is to be observed that while it .is preferable, because more compactand convenient, to cause the key-stem to pass through the air pipe, yetthat it is not essential, because the air pipe might be an independentpipe terminating in a whistle but not inclosing the valve-stem.Obviously, as the water enters the magazine the air expelled by it willas-v cend through the air pipe and escape through IIO the whistles, withthe result of causing them to speak, and to continue so to do until theair has been completely vented and the admitted water has found itsnatural level. When the sounding of the whistles shall cease, themagazine will have been flooded.

The mode of application of the whistles represented in the drawings maybe varied at the will of the constructor, and other purely formalchanges in the shape, construction, and mode of application of the aboveparts may obviously be made.

While I have represented and described my invention as applied inconnection with a magazine for explosives, it is obvious, as referredto, that it may be applied in connection with any chamber or compartmentwithin a vessel or other structure which it is desired to flood withwater through a water inlet cock.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination:a magazine or compartment to be flooded,a water inletthereto provided with a flood cock or valve,a valve stem leading fromsaid cock to a casing or deck plate and terminating therein in a keyhead or socket,a casing or deck-plate provided with a diaphragm or coverhaving a non-circular opening through it,and a valve key thevalve-stem-engaging end-portion of which is conformed to the key head orsocket of the valve-stem, and registrable with the key opening in orderthat it maybe introduced through it-,the arrangement being such that thekey can onlybeintroducedwhen itsstem-engagingportion or socket registerswith the key opening, and when so introduced, applied to the key head,and with it turned out of registry with said opening,can not bewithdrawn,substantially as set forth.

2. In combination:a magazine or compartment to be flooded, an air pipeleading from said magazine and terminating in an alarm,- a water inletthereto provided with a flood cook or valve,a valve stem leading fromsaid cock to a casing or deck-plate and terminating therein in a keyhead or socket,a casing or deck plate provided with a diaphragm or coverhaving a non-circular opening through it,and a valve-key thevalve-stem-engaging end-portion of which is conformed to the key head orsocket of the valve stem, and registrable with the key opening in orderthat it may be introduced through it,the arrangement being such that thekey can only be introduced when its stem-engaging-portion or socketregisters with the key opening, and when so introduced, applied to thekey head, and with it turned out of registry with said opening,cannot bewithdrawn,substantially as set forth.

3. In combination, in a ship:-a magazine or compartment to be flooded,awater inlet thereto provided with a flood cock or valve,-a valve stemleading from said cock to a casing or deck-plate and terminating thereinin a key head or socket located above a tight diaphragm through whichsaid stem passes,-a casing or deck plate provided at or near its lowerportion with atight diaphragm and near its upper portion with adiaphragm or cover having a non-circular opening through it,'an air pipeleading from said magazine to said deck plate and surrounding saidvalve-stem, one or more alarms opening through the tight diaphragm ofthe deck plate,and a valve key the valve-stem-engaging end-portion ofwhich is conformed to the key head or socket of the valve stem, andregistrable with the key opening in order that it may be introducedthrough it,the arrangement being such that the key can only beintroduced when its stemengaging-portion or socket registers with thekey opening, and when so introduced, applied to the key head, and withit turned out of registry with said opening, cannot bewithdrawn,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

at. In combination:a compartment to be flooded,a water inlet theretoprovided with a flood cook or valve,a valve-stem leading from said cockto a casing or deck plate and terminating therein in a key head d ,acasing or deck plate B provided with a diaphragm or cover b havingformed through it the key opening b,and a valve key G having a socket gexternally conformed to the key opening I) and internally to the keyhead di-the arrangement being such that the key can only be introducedwhen its socket registers with the key opening, and when so introduced,applied to the key head, and with it turned out of registry with saidopening, cannot be withdrawn,substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

5. In combination:a compartment to be flooded,an air pipe leading fromsaid compartment and terminating in an alarm,a water inlet to saidcompartment provided with a flood cook or valve,a valve-stem leadingfrom said cock to a casing or deck plate and terminatingthereinin akeyhead d ,a casing or deck plate B provided with a diaphragm or coverZ) having formed through it the keyopeningb,anda valvekey Ghavingasocket g externally conformed to the key-opening Z) and internally tothe key head d ,the arrangement being such that the key can only beintroduced when its socket registers with the key-opening, and when sointroduced,applied to the key head, and with it turned out of registrywith said opening, cannot be withdrawn,substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have hereuntosigned my name this 12th day of April, 1892.

IVILLIAM TAIT.

In presence of F. NORMAN DIXON, R. M. RUssELL.

ITS

